Hi everybody,
I just thought I'd take a couple of minutes to share with you all my story of getting bent. My symptoms actually arose from a completely innocuous dive, and my pre-concentions about DCS from my training caused me to deny my condition and delay seeking treatment. So I think it's worth re-counting the story for general info.
A couple of weeks ago I went diving in Zadar, Croatia. I had a couple of beers the night before but nothing heavy. Unfortunately, the night before the dive I was kept awake by drunk obnoxious people in the youth hostel and so was a bit tired in the morning. Still, excited about the dive, we sailed 2 hours to the dive site early the next day. The only thing I can say about the dive is that having not dived for 6 months of so, I had a bit of pain descending above my right eye (sinus), but it went away so I thought nothing of it. The water was quite cold, and we did struggle a bit with the current. The dive master insisted that the interval between the dives was at least 1hr30, though I had barely warmed up, and my girlfriend and I estimate that the interval was 45 minutes between dives. Maximum depth of the dives was 14m and 17.2m respectively. There was hardly anything to drink on the boat - I realise in retrospect that I was dehydrated. I asked for a glass of water and was given a foul tasting cup from the boat's tanks.
That evening I felt a bit nauseous and hot and tired. We took an overnight bus to Trieste in Italy, during which I also didn't sleep well. The next day in Trieste, my back and shoulders and ears started to itch a lot. I presumed it was just seawater irritation. We took a tram up the hillside to the pine forest overlooking the city, and I felt distinctly ****ty, which was my first warning that my symptoms were dive related. I slept a little in the shade and took the next tram down. The same day, we travelled to Ljubljana (Slovenia). I began to feel very foggy and 'out of it' in the afternoon. Its quite hard to explain, but I felt sounds sounded far away and I was somewhat disconnected from my body. It was a real effort to concentrate or keep up with a conversation. I thought I was exhausted or run down, so just went to bed. I was ok when I woke up, but mid-morning the same symptoms re-occured. Concerned, I went to an internet cafe and searched for my symptoms. I found a threat on this site (http://www.scubaboard.com/archive/index.php/t-19093.html), I went straight to hospital, where many hours later I was diagnosed with DCI and treated for 2hr45 in a hyperbaric chamber. I was kept in overnight for observation and told to return if symptoms re-occurred. It was then that tingling and numbness in my legs began. Vertigo and diziness and confusion continued, but the main symptom of the hearing sensation went. I was discharged from hospital and didn't return the day after, as I had a flight back to England and didn't want my girlfriend to have to take time off work and go through the whole foreign hospital ordeal again.
A few days back in the UK and the confusion and tingling remained. I couldn't concentrate at work or remember things (like my computer password) from minute to minute. I went back to my local hospital and was referred to the London Hyperbaric Medicine Unit at Whipps Cross Hospital. It was a week to the day since my dives (the only ones this summer). They insited that in Slovenia I should have been treated with a 'table 6' treatment (4.5hrs+) instead of a table 5 (2hr15). I was given two 'table 5's' in London and discharged. It was decided that I had neurological symptoms in particular a 'postitive Romberg' (unable to balance with eyes closed).
It is now two days later, and other than a dull headache I feel much better. No more itching or confusion or diziness. I am concerned however about how dopey and 'out of it' I still feel. I tire very easily and still have trouble keeping up with any conversation without drifting off. This has always been a personality trait of mine but I think the incident and the late treatment has definately made it worse. Fingers crossed. I hope to be back at work on Monday.
Anyway, sorry this is so long. I just felt I should share this story, because as an AOW diver with 21 dives, I still didn't realise the bends could realistically occur from normal dives in which safety stops and all other procedures were followed correctly. If I had been able to identify my symptoms earlier, perhaps the story would have turned out differently?
If in doubt, check it out! Be safe.
Tom
I just thought I'd take a couple of minutes to share with you all my story of getting bent. My symptoms actually arose from a completely innocuous dive, and my pre-concentions about DCS from my training caused me to deny my condition and delay seeking treatment. So I think it's worth re-counting the story for general info.
A couple of weeks ago I went diving in Zadar, Croatia. I had a couple of beers the night before but nothing heavy. Unfortunately, the night before the dive I was kept awake by drunk obnoxious people in the youth hostel and so was a bit tired in the morning. Still, excited about the dive, we sailed 2 hours to the dive site early the next day. The only thing I can say about the dive is that having not dived for 6 months of so, I had a bit of pain descending above my right eye (sinus), but it went away so I thought nothing of it. The water was quite cold, and we did struggle a bit with the current. The dive master insisted that the interval between the dives was at least 1hr30, though I had barely warmed up, and my girlfriend and I estimate that the interval was 45 minutes between dives. Maximum depth of the dives was 14m and 17.2m respectively. There was hardly anything to drink on the boat - I realise in retrospect that I was dehydrated. I asked for a glass of water and was given a foul tasting cup from the boat's tanks.
That evening I felt a bit nauseous and hot and tired. We took an overnight bus to Trieste in Italy, during which I also didn't sleep well. The next day in Trieste, my back and shoulders and ears started to itch a lot. I presumed it was just seawater irritation. We took a tram up the hillside to the pine forest overlooking the city, and I felt distinctly ****ty, which was my first warning that my symptoms were dive related. I slept a little in the shade and took the next tram down. The same day, we travelled to Ljubljana (Slovenia). I began to feel very foggy and 'out of it' in the afternoon. Its quite hard to explain, but I felt sounds sounded far away and I was somewhat disconnected from my body. It was a real effort to concentrate or keep up with a conversation. I thought I was exhausted or run down, so just went to bed. I was ok when I woke up, but mid-morning the same symptoms re-occured. Concerned, I went to an internet cafe and searched for my symptoms. I found a threat on this site (http://www.scubaboard.com/archive/index.php/t-19093.html), I went straight to hospital, where many hours later I was diagnosed with DCI and treated for 2hr45 in a hyperbaric chamber. I was kept in overnight for observation and told to return if symptoms re-occurred. It was then that tingling and numbness in my legs began. Vertigo and diziness and confusion continued, but the main symptom of the hearing sensation went. I was discharged from hospital and didn't return the day after, as I had a flight back to England and didn't want my girlfriend to have to take time off work and go through the whole foreign hospital ordeal again.
A few days back in the UK and the confusion and tingling remained. I couldn't concentrate at work or remember things (like my computer password) from minute to minute. I went back to my local hospital and was referred to the London Hyperbaric Medicine Unit at Whipps Cross Hospital. It was a week to the day since my dives (the only ones this summer). They insited that in Slovenia I should have been treated with a 'table 6' treatment (4.5hrs+) instead of a table 5 (2hr15). I was given two 'table 5's' in London and discharged. It was decided that I had neurological symptoms in particular a 'postitive Romberg' (unable to balance with eyes closed).
It is now two days later, and other than a dull headache I feel much better. No more itching or confusion or diziness. I am concerned however about how dopey and 'out of it' I still feel. I tire very easily and still have trouble keeping up with any conversation without drifting off. This has always been a personality trait of mine but I think the incident and the late treatment has definately made it worse. Fingers crossed. I hope to be back at work on Monday.
Anyway, sorry this is so long. I just felt I should share this story, because as an AOW diver with 21 dives, I still didn't realise the bends could realistically occur from normal dives in which safety stops and all other procedures were followed correctly. If I had been able to identify my symptoms earlier, perhaps the story would have turned out differently?
If in doubt, check it out! Be safe.
Tom
I had two full medical examinations, 2 ECGs, 2 lung x-rays, 2 blood tests (normal and arterial - agony). They mentioned that they were trying to eliminate other causes but didn't say what they might be. Their English was not great. I was very grateful for their thoroughness though.
